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Molly Peterson Environment Correspondent

Molly Peterson is an award-winning environment correspondent at Southern California Public Radio.

Molly has reported, edited, directed programs, and produced stories for NPR and NPR shows including "Day to Day" and KQED's "California Report." She was a contributing producer for Nick Spitzer's weekly music program, "American Routes," and reported for "Living on Earth" in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricanes Katrina & Rita. Prior to joining KPCC, she produced a nationally-distributed radio documentary about New Orleans called "Finding Solid Ground."

A former LA Press Club radio journalist of the year, Molly reported on the faulty pumps installed at New Orleans canals after Hurricane Katrina. That project was a finalist for an Investigative Reporters and Editors award.

Molly worked for NPR American legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg during the Clinton Impeachment.

She studied international politics at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law. She is an inactive member of the State Bar of California.

Stories by Molly Peterson

With radiation levels on the rise in the area immediately around Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactors, US officials have established monitoring points for radioactivity along the Pacific Coast. However, the message from local officials is that Californians should be prepared, but not alarmed.

As congressional leaders challenge the federal Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gases, advocates of policies to combat global warming are seeking other venues in which to argue their cause.
One of those activists is South African-born Kumi Naidoo - the head of Greenpeace International. Not long ago, KPCC's Molly Peterson sat down with Naidoo when he visited Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, calls for closer scrutiny of the Department of Water and Power have seemed as routine as wildfires. A political storm that developed last year over the DWP's finances could lend momentum to reforming the utility. Two measures aim to change what Angelenos know about their water and electricity rates.

A ballot measure in Beverly Hills and a charter amendment in Los Angeles present voters next Tuesday with the opportunity to hike taxes on oil companies. The L.A. basin is the third-largest oil field in the United States, but companies that produce oil from wells dotting the region say the boom days are long over. Molly Peterson reports on the initiatives - both called “O,” for oil.

A new book from the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California argues that piecemeal solutions to the state's water system are killing fish, lowering water quality and raising the risk of catastrophic floods.

Los Angeles County officials told neighbors of the Inglewood Oil Field in Baldwin Hills that they're working to resolve disputes over the smells, sounds and safety of oil production. KPCC's Molly Peterson reports that time's running out.

Rooftop solar energy thrives in the Southland. But efficiency measures play a large role in satisfying California consumers' demand for power. Using renewable energy better is one way to sell more rooftop panels.

State officials are moving forward with plans to clean up one of the dirtiest rivers in the country. KPCC's Molly Peterson explains the effort to bring back the New River, which runs north through Imperial County, to the Salton Sea.

Even though their houses sit on a former Shell Oil tank farm, a plan to clean up the toxic soil underneath doesn't sit well with dozens of homeowners in the city of Carson. They made that clear to regional water regulators in a recent meeting.

Officials at the regional water quality control board say they’re almost ready with a cleanup order for the Carousel neighborhood of Carson. Some residents of the Carousel neighborhood are greeting those plans with anger and criticism.